


The Holly and the Ivy

by SecretSecret



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: ALL OF IT, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Fluff, Die Hard References, Die Hard as a Christmas movie, Healing, M/M, talking it out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 07:01:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28347327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretSecret/pseuds/SecretSecret
Summary: Out of touch ever since the school fight, Johnny and Daniel reconnect at a bar on the night before Christmas. Back at Johnny’s apartment, they talk out their issues over a box of tangled Christmas lights.Post-S2 canon divergence with too many Christmas decorations, one badass action film, and two idiots in love.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 23
Kudos: 95





	The Holly and the Ivy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cobra_shy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobra_shy/gifts).



> This is my humble gift to the amazing artist @cobra-shy on tumblr for Cobra Kai Secret Santa 2020! I hope you've had a very happy holiday season, and that the New Year treats you well!
> 
> This fic was meant to be short, simple, and sweet. Instead, it ended up as me forcing Johnny and Daniel to atone for the wrongs done to Robby Keene. Oops. 
> 
> My deepest thanks goes to Supergirlx55 who has provided HOURS of editing and Important LawRusso Conversations, and without whom this work would probably still be languishing. I owe you a debt of gratitude.

The last few sips of a martini were always the worst. It wasn’t the taste. It wasn’t even that it had gotten too warm to be appealing (though that was true, too). The bad part about the last few sips was the decision that loomed over them-- close his tab, or order another? 

Daniel chewed on an olive and thought it over. It was his second martini, and he was only slightly buzzed. A third would mean an Uber home, though. (He insisted on at least that level of responsibility, even when his kids weren’t around to see it.) An Uber home would mean an Uber back here tomorrow, and that sounded like way more of a headache than he wanted to deal with. Two martinis it was, then. He signaled for the check. 

“Feeling nostalgic, LaRusso?”

Daniel turned, faster than strictly necessary. His heart rate was up, but he tried playing it off, forcing his eyes back down to those last sips of vodka, ignoring the way his shoulders crept up toward his ears. 

“Hey, Johnny. How’s, uh, how’s it going?”

Johnny ordered a Coors and took a swig, settling down on the next barstool. He fixed Daniel with a piercing look.

“It’s okay. What I’m wondering is what the hell you’re doing by yourself in a dive bar in Reseda on Christmas Eve. Specifically _this_ dive bar.”

Daniel wanted to get defensive. He wanted to raise his voice, say something cutting. What business did Johnny have interrogating him? What was it to him, anyway? Somehow, though, he felt like he didn’t have any fight left. Not tonight. He let out a long-suffering sigh.

“What is it, man? Lost yourself to reminiscing about our one amazing afternoon together? I’ll admit, it was a good time. I _do_ regret taking you home; you didn’t put out worth a shit. Could’ve been friends, though.” He gave a little grin and clapped Daniel on the back, like he was in on the joke. 

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Not funny, Johnny. And as far as why I’m _here_ tonight, couldn’t I ask you the same question?” He’d meant it to have at least a little venom, but it came out kind of pitiful. He shrank a little further into himself, hoping the check would come soon.

Johnny took a slightly softer tone. “If you did, I’d tell you that this is the only damned bar for miles around that’s not decked out in twinkly lights, playing jingly carols, and doling out an insincere ‘Merry Christmas’ to each customer tonight.” Daniel ventured a look at him, and saw something almost like empathy in his expression. He gave a rueful laugh.

“Okay, yeah. That’s most of the appeal. That and the cheap drinks.”

Johnny’s lip quirked up, and he snaked one finger around the stem of Daniel’s martini glass, pulling it toward himself. Daniel relinquished it without a fight. “Fair. Probably hard to find one of these for under ten bucks on your side of town.” Daniel just scoffed. “Why the hell do people want _olives_ in their alcohol, anyway?” 

Daniel reached out and grabbed back the drink, swallowing the dregs and popping the last olive into his mouth, chewing aggressively. Couldn’t Johnny just leave well enough alone? “Lay off, Lawrence,” he growled. “If you need someone to pick on tonight, fine, but I’m not in the mood. Choose someone else.”

“Sorry, LaRusso. It’s a tough night to be alone. I should know.” He met Daniel’s eyes with a softer expression. “Listen. I saw you ask for the check a minute ago. What do you say you pay your tab, I finish this beer, and we head over to my place? I think Die Hard’s on TV.” Daniel just looked back, nonplussed, and Johnny sighed. “Man, you know I’m not the sentimental type, but tonight basically blows. Better than nothing, right?”

The bartender chose that moment to place a receipt and credit card on the bar in front of Daniel. He took his time calculating the tip and signing, trying to avoid looking back to Johnny. Despite the other man’s apparent sincerity, the little voice in his head that embodied a scrappy kid from Newark was telling him to get out of there, that Johnny must be making a joke at his expense right now. Another voice, the one that wore too-stiff suits and only drove shiny cars, was telling him he didn’t need the pity of a washed-up has-been from Reseda. 

In the end, Daniel inwardly told both of them to shut up. Watching a movie with someone _did_ sound better than being alone in an empty apartment tonight. He sighed, then looked up at Johnny. 

When their eyes met, he froze, swallowing hard. He’d become reacquainted with the unbalancing feeling of Johnny’s presence over the last year or so, but he wasn’t ready for the open expression he saw on his ex-rival’s face. In that moment, the boy who’d handed him his trophy in 1984 was right there at the surface, and it shook Daniel to the core. The moment stretched out, the world narrowing to just them, until Johnny blinked and lowered his eyes.

“Uh. I mean, no problem if you’re busy or, uh, don’t want to.” He looked away, sipping at his beer. “Figured since you were here you might not have a lot going on.”

Daniel couldn’t decipher the moment that had passed, but he wasn’t ready for it to go just yet. “No, John--” he placed a hand on Johnny’s forearm. “You’re right. Sure sounds better than nothing.” He did his best to return the sincerity.

Johnny grinned a little, then raised his beer in a little salute. “Cheers, LaRusso.”

“Wait, no you don’t have to--” Daniel’s protest died on his lips and he rolled his eyes as Johnny chugged the beer in one go. It was disgusting to watch, but he found himself chuckling instead of grimacing. He clapped Johnny on the back. “Alright _champ_ , let’s get outta here before you hurt yourself.”

Johnny chucked down a few bills, then held the door open. “Ladies first, _Danielle_.”

______________

The drive to Johnny’s was quick, and Daniel couldn’t quite account for the lightness in his step as they left their cars and met by the front door. Looking around, he noticed that many of the apartments were decorated for the season, but Johnny’s looked like it would on any other night. 

He watched with a pang as Johnny unlocked the door and had to give it a firm shove to get it open. He felt frozen on the threshold, stuck in his thoughts about the last time he’d stood there.

Johnny broke his reverie. “Hey, the door’s fine, just stay away from the TV, okay?” He said it with a teasing smile, though that didn’t make Daniel feel much better about it. As he closed the door, Johnny flipped the lights on, and Daniel caught his breath. 

The apartment was festooned with Christmas lights, strung along every plausible straight line where they could still reach a power outlet. Gold and silver tinsel garlands were wrapped around the kitchen cabinet supports, and an oversized Christmas tree was crammed into a corner, decked with more lights, garlands, and ornaments. Gifts, badly-yet-lovingly wrapped, were piled beneath it. 

Daniel just stared, openmouthed, until Johnny spoke.

“Sorry man, I probably should’ve warned you. With Robby living here now, I wanted to try to make it festive this year.” He grinned sheepishly.

Daniel’s brain tuned back in. “Yeah I’d, uh, I’d heard Robby was living with you. How’s he doing?” He could feel his face making a cracked-open expression, but he tried keeping his tone more casual.

Johnny’s brows knit together. “Hasn’t always been easy. We’re making progress though, y’know?” He was silent for a moment, then started rummaging around the kitchen, tossing a couple of dirty plates into the sink, shoving some cans into the recycle bin. It looked to Daniel like he was working up to something, though he couldn’t tell what before the brief moment passed. 

“Want a drink, LaRusso? Can’t offer you anything fancy, but there’s a six pack in the fridge. Coke, orange juice, and water, too.” He reached into the fridge and grabbed a soda for himself, then looked at Daniel expectantly.

“Glass of water would be great, thanks. Ice if you’ve got it,” Daniel managed, still slightly taken aback that Johnny wasn’t already halfway through another beer. Johnny handed him his water and headed toward the TV, but stopped short when he saw a cardboard box in the middle of the floor.

“Ah shit.” He bent down to pick up the box. “Hey, LaRusso, can you get the door for me? There’s something I need to do, and I really don’t want to leave it until morning.”

“Yeah, hold on a sec.” Daniel wrested the door open, holding it so Johnny could head outside. “Need a hand with that?”

“Sure. Know anything about stringing lights?”

Daniel stepped outside and closed the door, the question making him feel almost cheery. “ _Do_ I? You’re talking to the best small-apartment-light-stringer on either coast, here.” He said, affecting a stronger Newark accent. “Lucille LaRusso and Son didn’t always have everything, but we always had the best damned Christmas decorations on the block.” He gave Johnny an impish smile and started untangling extension cords from the box. 

Johnny cracked a grin. “I used to help my mom with it too, back when we were on our own. Wasn’t tall enough to help much, but we had a good time.” His smile faded a little. “In Encino, Sid let my mom decorate, but only if she hired pros to do it. Wasn’t really the same.”

Daniel’s face darkened a little. “Yeah, I get it. Amanda and I have always kept decorations tasteful, but pretty minimal, just because it’s a lot to do without special equipment. And I hate the idea of hiring people to do it. Besides, as soon as you do that, you’re part of the neighborhood competition. No thanks.” 

He hung some lights around the outside window with little fasteners. “You know I’ve always loved Christmases with my family, but back when it was just me and my mom...there was something special about that, even though we didn’t have much.”

Johnny nodded. “I hear you, man.” 

They fell into a companionable silence, and Daniel could hear faint strains of music. Something about it felt familiar, and he tuned into it, trying to discern the song. When Johnny noticed, he started listening, too. 

“That’s old Mrs. McEllen, upstairs. She plays this one Christmas choir record on repeat, right under the open window. It was annoying back when I moved here, but...kind of nostalgic now. Peaceful, anyway.”

The music stirred something in Daniel’s memory. “I was in a kids’ choir at church back in Newark, when I was young. Can’t carry a tune in a bucket since my voice changed, but it was fun at the time. We used to sing this song every year at Christmas, The Holly and the Ivy.” He paused. “My dad always said it was his favorite.”

His eyes flicked over to Johnny. Daniel imagined he’d be swallowing some joking comment about being a choir boy or something, but he had that open look again, empathetic and dead serious. “Was Christmas tough? After you lost your dad?”

Daniel looked away, swallowing hard. “Yeah. I’d just turned eight when he passed, a couple of days before Christmas. It was awful.”

“Sorry, man.” Johnny placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a little bracing squeeze. 

Daniel met his eyes again. Supportive Johnny Lawrence was...well, he was something else. Kind of off-balancing, yet easy to talk to. “It’s alright. Really. My mom was amazing. The following year I was all geared up to hate Christmas, swore it could never be special again. That’s actually the first year she started the LaRusso and Son decorations thing. She insisted we make new, happy memories together. I’ve always admired how she handled it.”

“Yeah,” said Johnny, smiling. “Moms really are great like that.” He kept working on the lights, connecting strands and hanging them around the doorway. “Losing my mom was a real low point for me. Right _after_ Christmas, the year Robby was born.” 

He fiddled with the lights for a moment, like he was deciding what to say next. “I think things could have been different. I could’ve been better, I mean. As a dad. If she hadn’t passed right before that. Not that it’s any excuse, just...I always wish I’d had her there, to tell me what to do, y’know?” He attached one last cord to the end of the chain of light strings and took a deep breath, like he was bracing for something.

He fixed Daniel with a determined stare. “Speaking of being a dad, that’s one of the reasons I want to talk to you.” Daniel dropped his gaze, shrinking in on himself a little. “I think Robby deserves to hear from you.”

“Listen,” Daniel began to protest, his fears and insecurities surfacing all at once. “I’m...I’m a total screw-up with all of this, okay? I’ve failed Robby in every possible way. He deserves so much better than me.”

Johnny kept his eyes on Daniel, unwavering. “What he deserves is to feel like this wasn’t his fault. You dropped him like a hot potato, and he thinks it’s because of what he did. Granted, I’m the reason he was vulnerable in the first place, but…” he shook his head a little. “You care about him. I know you do. He deserves to hear that from you."

Daniel cast his face down. He’d been avoiding this issue for so long, letting his shame fester like a wound he couldn’t heal. It would be easier to leave, part of his mind whispered. Easier to convince himself that Johnny couldn’t devise any solution he hadn’t already considered and rejected. It wasn’t like they could change the past, after all. 

He looked at Johnny, and he didn’t see someone angry. He saw a father standing up for his son, reaching out, working to mend a gaping rift. He found he wanted badly to reach back, take the chance to make it right, despite not being able to see the path ahead. “You’re right,” he finally replied. “I should’ve said something before now. Been in touch. I’ve just-- Johnny, I’ve felt so guilty.”

Johnny gave him a long look, and sighed. “LaRusso, I get it. Feeling guilty, feeling like you’ve failed. I mean, look at _me_. Been feeling like a failure his entire life. But if I’d kept dwelling on my mistakes, I wouldn’t be able to do anything for him.”

It looked to Daniel like Johnny was struggling to get the words out as he continued. “You just...you take it one piece at a time. I had to make myself better, then step up to be a better dad, and one day soon I need to clean up the mess I left as a sensei. I’ve had a lot of help getting where I am, and I’m doing my best to show Robby that I’ll be here for him, from here on out.” 

He paused, took a deep breath. “But for a while you were doing a lot more than I was, and I think he deserves to hear, directly from you, that you leaving him high and dry was _not_ because of his actions. He knows he made a mistake, but good parents, good _mentors_ , they don’t leave their kids behind when they screw up. At the end of the day, you and I both abandoned him because we thought he deserved better, and all he could see was that we left him alone.”

Daniel felt torn apart. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Johnny make a speech before. Hearing him defend Robby was giving him all kinds of conflicting feelings. For himself he felt cut open, his mistakes exposed. Yet it felt right, too, like a bone that has to be re-broken in order to heal correctly. He looked Johnny dead in the eye. 

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Robby deserved my support going through all of that, after the fight. I bear a lot of responsibility in what happened. I was his teacher. And it’s like you say, we don’t abandon kids when they’re in trouble.” 

He closed his eyes and took a deep, centering breath. “I was spending so much time trying to be Mr. Miyagi that I couldn’t see I was only performing it. I was teaching without balance, taking way too many students. Miyagi-Do was never meant to be large-scale. I lost my way as soon as I saw the words ‘Cobra Kai’ on your sign. It was never his fault.”

Johnny laughed joylessly. “And I tried so hard _not_ to be Kreese that I let him take my dojo and endanger my students.” He shook his head. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”

“Yeah. Tried so hard to be my sensei that I lost my balance entirely, alienated my wife and kids, ended my marriage, and abandoned my student. Guess I still have a lot to learn.”

“It’s over, then? With you and Amanda?” 

Daniel looked at Johnny and raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you already knew that, just like I already knew Robby was living with you. ‘Through the grapevine,’ right? I think Sam and Miguel text every damned day.” He found Johnny still looking at him expectantly, and wondered why it mattered to him.

“But yeah, it’s over. All but some logistics.” He looked around, hoping to change the subject. “So, uh, where’s Robby spending Christmas Eve?”

Johnny let it go, and Daniel was grateful. “He’s with Shan. Just got out of rehab a few weeks ago. He was worried she’d get lonely on her own. She meets with her NA sponsor and her rehab buddy weekly, but Robby insisted she have family with her for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. He’s coming back tomorrow afternoon for presents and Chinese carryout.” He gave a self-deprecating smile, his eyes distant. “He’s got a really good heart. Don’t know where he got it.” 

Clearing this throat and grabbing the end of the extension cord, he gave Daniel a nudge. “Ready to see the magic?” Daniel nodded.

Johnny plugged in the lights, and they stood back to admire their handiwork. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it looked festive, homey, and bright. Johnny was nodding in approval. “I think he’ll like these. I’ve been making a big deal, y’know? Moaning and groaning whenever he asks to put up outside decorations. Just wanted to surprise him. He seemed to like the stuff inside. So.”

Daniel looked over at Johnny, his face cast in a rainbow of colors from the strands of Christmas lights. “I know exactly where he got his heart,” he said simply, and Johnny scoffed, turning away. “No, really. You didn’t have to reach out to me. You had every right to cut me out of your life and his. But here we are.” He pursed his lips, looking away for a moment. “I definitely need to apologize to Robby, but...do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Johnny turned back. “That’s up to him.” Daniel nodded in agreement. “For what it’s worth, LaRusso, _I’ll_ forgive you. On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You forgive me, too. For all of it.” His eyes tracked down, toward Daniel’s left knee, and back up to his eyes. He didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t need to. Daniel took in a breath, in, then out, and took one step toward him.

“It’s forgiven.” He held out his hand, and Johnny clasped it in a tight grip. Really tight. Okay, _too_ tight. “Okay, okay, JEEZ, Johnny! The ER is hell on Christmas Eve. Don’t break my hand!”

Johnny laughed, sounding lighter than he’d been all evening, and released him. Daniel felt lighter too, and warm inside in a way he couldn’t quite account for. His hand tingled with the memory of touch, and something crackled in the air between them. Almost like tension, but different, too. He suddenly didn’t know where to look, and ended up checking his watch for the time. 

“What is it, past your bedtime, LaRusso?” Johnny was smirking at him.

Daniel laughed a little. “Nah. Almost ten, though.”

Johnny’s eyes lit up. “OH! Come on, we can’t miss Die Hard!” He bolted inside, dragging Daniel by the sleeve.

______________

Daniel had to admit, Johnny was right. Die Hard was _the_ most badass Christmas movie. They bantered throughout, Daniel poking at Johnny for having cable instead of a streaming service, exaggeratedly whining about the commercials. (Die Hard became a _really_ long movie with commercials, okay?) Johnny quoted along enthusiastically, and Daniel couldn’t help himself, laughing especially at his poor impression of Hans Gruber.

The couch had seen better days. It kind of sank down toward the middle, and Daniel reasoned that was probably why he and Johnny had been moving closer to one another over the last hour. It had to be that, right? Didn’t have anything to do with that cozy feeling in his chest, or the way his cheeks felt warm every time he looked over to see Johnny smiling or laughing. Nothing to do with how he’d also been giggling so much his face hurt. It felt like a great weight was lifted, and even though his problems still loomed, he saw a hopeful path where none had existed before. 

During a commercial break about halfway through the movie, Johnny tentatively asked, “Are you seeing your kids tomorrow, at least?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah, in the afternoon. Amanda invited me over for dinner.”

“Keeping things friendy, then? No blowout fights?” He looked over at Daniel, who sighed in resignation. He’d been avoiding the details, but if Johnny actually _wanted_ to hear more, he didn’t mind telling him.

“I’m lucky. Under the circumstances, Amanda’s been more than reasonable. We’re separated while we work out the logistics, then we’ll proceed with divorce, but we’re not doing a custody battle or anything. I’ll get the kids about half the time, and split holidays with her. We don’t want to make it harder on them than it has to be.”

“Was it one thing that made you guys end it, or just a lot of little things?”

“Jeez, Johnny. Pry much?” He asked, with a wry tone. But talking to Johnny felt good ( _really_ good), so he elaborated.

“After the school fight, Amanda put down her foot about karate. I tried to go along at first, but I didn’t try hard enough. When Sam insisted she wouldn’t be safe without more training, I started teaching again. Just her. Amanda found out, and that was it.” He sighed. “By then, she was entirely calm about the whole thing. We’d fought before that, when she first wanted me to close Miyagi-Do, but when it came to the actual end of the marriage, it was almost a foregone conclusion.”

“You still training Sam?”

“No. One of Amanda’s conditions for settling this amicably was that Sam could keep training, but not with me. She’s enrolled at another dojo right now. Much as I don’t like it, it’s probably the right thing. I have a LOT of work to do before I should teach anyone again.”

Johnny nodded. “The whole ‘fix yourself first’ thing is working for me.” He looked over at Daniel. “Sorry about you and Amanda, though. I know you were happy for a long time.”

“To be honest, I think it’s been a while since we’ve been _really_ happy. By the end, we were only going through the motions. Karate wasn’t the beginning of our problems, it was just the final straw.”

“Not like you and I, then.” Daniel looked over and saw Johnny grinning at him.

“Hey, it wasn’t _karate_ that started our problems either, was it?”

“Guess not.” Johnny smiled, almost to himself. “Spent thirty-odd years holding that candle for Ali, building her up into some kind of symbol of what my life could’ve been. Wasn’t really about her at the end of the day.” He heaved a sigh. “It was time to let go.”

Daniel looked over, eyebrows almost at his hairline. “You’re over her? You think so?” 

“I think so, yeah. When I started scraping myself up off the floor, I saw she’d added me on Facebook. Got in touch. It was nice to talk again, and it helped me remember that people are just people. What she was in my mind...it wasn’t real. She’s not hanging around waiting to save me, she’s doing her own thing. And she’s happy. It’s kind of freeing.”

“Yeah. Kind of is.” Daniel chewed his lip a little, his thoughts beginning to swirl. The commercials were over, and they settled back into the movie, watching quietly now, though Daniel’s mind kept galloping at a dizzying pace.

John McClane’s fate hung in the balance (again) when the TV cut to _another damned commercial_ , later on. This time, Daniel grabbed the remote and muted it immediately, turning toward Johnny.

“Why were you actually there, Johnny? At the bar, earlier? I’m not buying that you just happened to wander in and find me there. Not buying that you needed a beer either. I saw the untouched six pack in your fridge. You’re clearly cutting back.”

Johnny looked at his knees, then faced Daniel, not quite meeting his gaze. “You got me. I’ll admit, I was on my way home and saw your car outside the bar. It’s been a shitty few months, and I knew you’d been having a hard time, too. Been looking for a chance, y’know, to talk about everything with Robby, and with both of us alone on Christmas Eve...this time seemed as good as any.”

He looked Daniel in the eye. “Also thought maybe you could use a kick in the pants. I spent a lot of years living in the past, hating myself. I know your life maybe isn’t what you want right now, but it’s not worth wasting time that way.”

Daniel swallowed hard, his cheeks heating again. He cleared his throat a little, dark eyes wide, welded to Johnny’s blue gaze. “You don’t deserve to hate yourself, Johnny.” He blinked a few times, trying to clear his head. “Maybe I don’t, either.” 

Johnny didn’t drop his gaze. “You _don’t_ ,” he insisted. He gave Daniel another little shoulder squeeze, just like earlier, when he was talking about losing his dad. This time, though, he didn’t drop his hand, instead tracing his thumb over Daniel’s shoulder in a little sweeping motion.

Daniel felt a flush creeping up from his chest to take over his entire face. His breaths were coming faster, and he wondered absently whether his thundering heartbeat was audible to all of Reseda, or just the nearest block. When Johnny’s hand dropped from his shoulder and landed lightly on his knee, his breath caught. 

Johnny reached for Daniel’s hand, clasping it gently, pushing the cuff of his sleeve back from his wrist. His eyes dropped to Daniel’s watch, then reconnected. 

“Five past midnight,” he said, his face close enough that Daniel felt the lightest brush of breath over his cheek, leaving a burning trail where it passed. Every nerve ending in his body felt as though it was on a hair trigger, rigged to explode like Nakatomi Plaza. He kept searching Johnny’s eyes for the answer to a question he didn’t know how to ask.

“Merry Christmas, Daniel.”

And evidently, that was what he’d been waiting to hear. He leaned a little forward, his next words rushing out in a whisper over Johnny’s parted lips.

“Merry Christmas, John.”

Their kiss stopped Daniel’s thoughts in their tracks, replacing them with a collection of sensations in sequence. Johnny’s hand, thumb stroking over his cheek, fingers threaded in his hair. Johnny’s shirt, clutched inside his fists. Johnny’s lips on his own, initiating a slow-motion detonation inside Daniel’s chest. 

They tipped back, Daniel lying on the couch with Johnny over him. He opened eagerly when Johnny licked into his mouth, and allowed his hands to travel up, nesting in Johnny’s hair like they lived there. _Golden locks_ , his mind supplied, and he rolled his eyes inwardly. A minute later, when Johnny pulled back, he opened his eyes, drinking in the familiar face above him, watching the light of the television flicker over his face. 

He couldn’t read the expression there, but the way Johnny dove back in like a starving man at a feast was gratifying. Their kisses were sweet and ravenous, urgent and apologetic, a collection of contradictions complemented perfectly by the way their bodies fit together.

Daniel felt Johnny’s lips leave his, instead trailing kisses down his neck, and he couldn’t help arching a little in response-- a mistake, as it turned out. Their careful balance was disrupted, and they fell in a heap to the floor. Daniel heard an amused grumble from under him.

“ _Jesus_ , LaRusso. It’s a narrow couch and you’re writhing like a teenage girl. Get a hold of yourself!”

He burst into surprised laughter at that, at the situation, at how ridiculous all of it was. As they disentangled and came up to sitting positions on the floor, both dissolving in laughter, all he could think about was the road that had led them here. He shook his head.

“Gotta admit, Johnny, looking back, I’m a little annoyed it took this long to get here.”

Johnny smiled, facing the TV. “Where, onto the floor of my shitty apartment?” Daniel chuckled a little more at that. When Johnny stood up and walked toward the hallway, his eyes followed, but he felt glued to the floor.

“What, LaRusso, you want to keep wasting time?” Johnny quipped, then turned and walked down the hall.

Daniel followed.

______________

When Johnny’s bedroom door closed, Daniel took the initiative, pressing Johnny back against it and running his hands underneath the age-softened fabric of his t-shirt, cataloguing the planes of Johnny’s body with his fingertips while the blond shucked off the flannel button-down he wore over it. 

Daniel tried pulling his own shirt off over his head, but got stuck somewhere along the way in his own enthusiasm, grateful when a pair of strong hands rescued him by disentangling his arms from it. He gave a little embarrassed smile, wiped off immediately when Johnny wrapped him in an embrace before kissing him soundly and backing him up. Daniel was too distracted by the warmth of Johnny’s chest against his own to notice how close the bed was behind him.

They fell back together onto Johnny’s bed half-clothed, Johnny rolling Daniel onto his back, Daniel letting him. It wasn’t really like fighting at all, though Daniel supposed he could see the parallels. Finding the spot near the base of Johnny’s neck that made him moan aloud when his teeth grazed over it felt like getting the first point in a match. Johnny retaliating by reaching into his boxer briefs without preamble and just _stroking_ , well, _that_ somehow felt like losing and winning all at once. 

Later, Johnny took them both in hand together and looked into Daniel’s eyes until they broke, disintegrating and rebuilding themselves from scratch. They came to with their bodies entwined, sweaty and spent and perfect.

______________

When the first grey light of dawn filtered through the blinds, the thought crossed Daniel’s mind that some part of this should’ve been surprising. Instead, it felt absurdly natural, one chapter closing while another began. Slow on the uptake or not, they’d managed to get here at last. He supposed that he should regret the years spent fighting, or the collateral damage they could’ve avoided, and in a sense he did. For now, though, he wrapped his arms tighter around Johnny’s sleeping form, thankful to have this future before him, with the chance to make amends.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the last line is essentially a paraphrase of Dickens. This whole fic was inspired by A Christmas Carol initially, though without the ghosts and journeys through time. 
> 
> Some edits may be forthcoming.
> 
> As always, I want to hear what you think! :)


End file.
